The field of the invention generally relates to mounting a panel instrument, such as a video monitor, terminal, or other panel instruments, to a mounting surface or support, such as the back of an airline passenger seat, and more particularly, to a quick-release mounting system for securely and conveniently mounting a panel instrument to a mounting surface or support.
Vehicle passenger seats, such as passenger seats in aircraft, trains, automobiles, etc., often serve as mounting locations for video monitors and other panel mounted instruments, such as control panels, terminals, and other devices sometimes referred to as line replaceable units (“LRUs”). Such devices are referred to herein as “panel instruments.” For example, vehicle entertainment systems for various types of vehicles may have video displays installed at each passenger seat, such as mounted in the seatbacks of the passenger seats, and/or on cabin walls, i.e., in the first row of a section.
Typical methods for mounting panel instruments, such as video monitors, on mounting surfaces such as seatbacks, cabin walls and other suitable mounting surface or support, include attaching brackets, bezels, and/or covers for the video display to the mounting surface/support using screws extending through the mounting surface to the back surface of the panel instrument. In the case of a video monitor mounted to the back of a passenger seatback, the heads of the screws are located under the upholstery of the seat. Accordingly, the upholstery must be removed in order to access the screws in order to install or remove a video monitor, which is very time consuming.